Stop Plastic Pollution From Damaging

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Turtle Eating Plastic
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Bird Trapped in Plastic
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Plastic Inside Dead Whale
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Bird Dead From a Belly Full Of Plastic

Our Oceans And Killing Our Marine

Life. Say NO To Plastic Bags, Use 

Re-Useable Shopping Bags

 

The Obvious Problem

Plastics are Killing Millions of Sea Creatures Every Year

According to the United Nations Environmental Program's Regional Seas Report 2006, p54 "Plastic waste kills up to 1 million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and countless fish every year."
 
Tragically a number of marine species on the cusp of extinction, including whales, dolphins and sea turtles; are among those being killed by used, discarded, non degradable plastic bags (and other plastic matter) because floating in the water they resemble foods these animals eat; for example, in the water plastic bags look like squid and jellyfish.
 
Many animals in the sea are filter feeders, so they have no way of feeding without consuming plastics. An example is a Bryde"s Whale that became stranded off the North Queensland coast in August 2000. Despite the work of volunteers the whale died and the autopsy revealed 6m2 of plastic in the whale's stomach. (See Photo below).

Every day unsuspecting marine life dies "choking to death" on plastic bags they have mistaken as food. Others die a slow painful death as accumulated indigestible plastic bags build up in their gut causing lethal obstructions to their digestive systems. In other cases animals are dying because their bellies are so full of indigestible plastics, they can't get enough nutrient producing food in their system to live! (see carcass photo of albatross with a belly full of plastic)
 
The macabre reality to the obvious problem of plastics in our oceans is that the plastics that kill take longer to degrade than the animals themselves, and when the corpse rots the plastic bags and other waste plastics float free, ready to claim another unsuspecting victim. This in itself is disturbing (infact it's why we started Positively Green), but it's only the beginning of the story of plastics in our ocean; what happens as these plastics break down into microplastics is the subject of recent scientific research which indicates that microplastics in our ocean are creating a chemical cocktail that is poisoning our foodchain.
 

The Not So Obvious Problem That's Alarming Marine Scientists Around The Globe: Plastics Competing With Plankton

Consider the fact that every peice of plastic that we have ever made still remains somewhere in our environment. Scary thought isn't it? Now consider that we have only been using them for about 60 years. If they are a problem now, imagine how much more of a problem they will be for our grandchildren?
 
The hard fact is that plastics take up to 1000 years to degrade and they are usually only used once! If all that is alarming, its a walk in the park compared to what happens as plastics 'appear' to break down. This has been the subject of recent scientific inquiry and the results are alarming.

Plastics break down into non-degradable plastic particles (they photodegrade they don't biodegrade) and in our oceans these microplastics share the same space, and compete with plankton as a food source, because a very high percentage of the worlds plankton feeders mistakenly ingest it. (Algalita)

Studies done in 2000 by The Algalita Marine Research Foundation in the North Pacific Gyre found that for every one pound of plankton in the sea, there are on average 6 pounds of plastic. Some samples they have taken  have show up to 1000 times more plastic than plankton! This means that in this area there is at least 6 times more plastic particles in the ocean than there is plankton, and the sickening discrepancy is growing! (see the video below).
 
Many marine scientists now nickname vast surface areas of the world's oceans "Plastic soup", and as you can see in the graph below, 42% of the problem can be directly attributed to plastic bags and 67% to plastic in general.
 
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This video below, produced by The Algalita Marine Research Foundation tells the little known story of plastics in our ocean, and is well worth watching because it will open your eyes to what we are collectively doing to our oceans.
 
 
Did you watch the video? It's "full on" disturbing isn't it? Now consider that plankton, and many plankton feeders, are at the very base of our food chain in the oceans. When eaten by larger predators the microplastics they are eating are progressively being distributed through the food chain where they are creating a range of health issues because plastic itself has a high xeno estrogen content and a cocktail of the dangerous chemicals that we have put into the ocean like PCB's , DDE and nonylphenols are attracted to the plastic and bond with it, making the non degrading plastic particles floating in our oceans into highly toxic particles being distributed through the food chain.
 
If you have been interested and alarmed so far, please consider watching the videos I've listed below as they will give you an even greater understanding of the problems and issues. They are short films done by VBS TV who went on a cruise with The Algalita Marine Foundation to find out more about the plastics in the North Pacific Gyre. They are amazing and mind blowing.
 
The first three show the problem in detail, the last one is an interview with Professor Fredrick Vom Saal, a Professor of Biology at from the University of Missouri. His interview discusses implications of plastic as a toxic contaminant in the food chain and how it may be affecting humans, particularly Bisphenol A . Bisphenol A is a chemical used in the manufacturing of plastics, it is an endocrine disruptor, which means it can act like the body's own hormones and cause similar physiological effects on the body. There is a valid concern that long term low dose exposure to bisphenol A may induce chronic toxicity in humans.
 
If you only have time to watch one more video, it may be the best, but all are worth watching, I guarentee you, once you have watched these you will always remember to take a reusable shopping bag with you when you go shopping, and you will think twice about heating food in plastic.


Plastics On Land

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On land plastic bags also cause environmental problems, in particular with litter. Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide, that works out to over one million per minute, and billions end up as litter each year. According to The Department of Environment in Australia, Australians consume 6.9 billion plastic bags each year—326 per person. Tied together these bags would form a chain long enough to go around the world 37 times! An estimated .7% or 49,600,000 end up as litter each year. According to Clean Up Australia , an average of half a million shopping bags are collected every year on Clean Up Australia day.
 

Say No To Plastic Bags

Consider our Reusable Shopping Bag System, we believe it is the most convenient to use Shopping Bag System available anywhere in the world. We have designed  our system to be compact, convenient and easy to use, the entire system fits into a small self contained bag about the size of a grapefruit, and can be carried via a shoulder strap leaving the user with two hands free. We have also purposefully built it to be durable and long lasting; one system should last you a lifetime. Keep a small bag in your handbag or pocket and the system in your car, and next time you are asked "do you need a bag with that?" you'll be able to say "no thanks, I don't need a plastic bag".
 
Won't that be fantastic! Smile
 
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